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User blog:Domino29/Beginner's Guide to Payday
As part of an effort to help teach the newer community members a little bit more about the game, I've decided to asemble a guide to Payday that covers the most basic concepts, from using Shoutouts effectively, to the importance of intelligently placed Ammo Bags. These are things every Payday player should know, and if new players can learn these tactics and strategies early, then they will be a lot more effective and can earn the higher rewards much sooner. Choosing your Difficulty "The higher the difficulty, the higher the reward." That is probably the most important and hazardous statement when it comes to Payday. It is true, the difference between Hard and Overkill when it comes to your payday is massive. By the time a player reachs the last couple levels the only way to earn enough cash to reach that level cap is to grind your way through Overkill or Overkill 145. With that said, one of the most dangerous things in Payday is taking off more than you can chew. I've seen very low level players, equipped only with a B9-S, AMCAR-4, and Noob Lube try to take on Slaughterhouse on Overkill simply because they think it will level them up quickly. And if they were to succeed, they surely would, but they won't. Payday has a very natural difficulty curve. It's one of the things I love about it. As you level up, get better weapons and equipment, lower difficulties will become too easy and won't offer enough rewards to effectively support your continued heisting. Then you'll take on the next difficulty up, and when that becomes obsolete, the next. I can't put a specific level on when a player should try the next difficulty, that's up to each individual, however, in order to fully capitalize on Payday's rewards, higher level players should play on the higher difficulties. So what's the risk of playing outside your recommended level? What's worse than four level 10 players trying Undercover on Overkill and all dying? Three level 193's and one level 10 who brings the entire group down and loses the heist. Now I know that's a fairly selfish view, but I have seen it happen more times than I've needed to. A low level player will get downed more, maybe because their Thick Skin isn't high level enough to soak up the damage, or they don't have enough ammo from their Extra-Startout Ammo to keep up the fight, or maybe their guns just don't do enough damage (likely the latter). And when the team has to focus on continually reviving or rescuing one player, they can't focus on the objectives at hand. In summary, try to stay within difficulty of your level. A good indicator of your skill/level is how how many times you get downed per heist, or how quickly you can make your way through your heist. If you can clear through Slaughterhouse only getting downed once and in ten minutes, then maybe it's time to try the next one up? But a better indicator is how frustrated you get at how slowly you level up. If it gets frustratingly slow, and your heist payoffs simply aren't getting you enough cash, then that's, in my opinion, the best indicator. Skill Trees, How to Maximize their Effectiveness "Don't try to do everything and get everything at once." In Payday, you'll have at least three, maybe four Skill Trees (with the Wolf Pack DLC) to choose from, all of which have their own weapons (usually one Handgun, one Primary, and one Secondary) as well as its own Crew Bonuses and Equipment. It can be daunting to see all 145-193 pieces of equipment and upgrades and not know which ones to choose. One of the bigger mistakes a new player can make is to try and level up all three-four Skill Trees at one time. Yes, you will get all the equipment from these Trees, but all of it will be such low tier equipment that it will be very difficult to take on heists on higher difficulties (see above). My rule of thumb is'' two at once''. Take a look at which weapons and equipment you think you will use, and then think of which two Trees would work well together. The Sharpshooter Tree and Support Tree compliment each other well because the M308 can compensate for the shorter ranges of the Compact-5 and the Bronco. Or the Crosskill can help to even out the less accurate nature of the Technician Tree. So once you've made it to the final level of a Tree, or at least as high as you want to get on it, start all over with another one. I find that the more weapons you have at your disposable, the more combinations you can make to create a more effective loadout, so there's always incentive to pursue a different Skill Tree. Hostages "Hostages are your blood, without them, you're dead." When it comes to hostages, you can never have too many. Taking hostages is always one of your highest priorities when starting a heist. Each crew member starts with two cable ties, and with a fully levelled up Extra-Cable Ties, six. If your crew does not take hostages, then if one of your teammates gets captured, then it becomes a massive effort to take a new hostage ad rescue them, all within the gap between Assault Waves. So as soon as a heist starts and you've found some spare time, run around the area and take hostages. Don't just take any hostages though. Hostages will stay low to the ground and are unable to move, unlike regular civilians. As such they are completely vulnerable when it comes to friendly fire, and it only takes one shot or melee strike to kill one of your most important assets. When searching for hostages, don't just take any hostage, search for civilians that are hidden behind desks or boxes, are in secluded rooms that are tucked away from the action, or are in a separate part of the map entirely. If your hostages get killed in an intense firefight, then they're useless. Be smart, tie up civilians that are in places that you yourself would use for cover. Another important thing to note about hostage placement is how well they're grouped together. There are some places in almost all the heists where there are many civilians grouped together. When you start a heist, they'll try and scatter and run away. For example, at the start of First World Bank, you will be searching for the bank manager, but there may be a group of civilians in the meeting room on the second floor or in the cafeteria. Have one crew member take on the bank manager, one or two take out security cameras, and one or two dedicated to supressing and tying down civilians. If you can keep all your hostages in one place, then if half your crew gets captured, you won't be running back and forth across the map freeing hostages to save them, you'll be able to safely camp near your pile of hostages, waiting to trade them away. There is a risk to doing this though, when hostages are tighly grouped together, it makes it much easier for cops to come in and rescue them all at once. So be sure you keep an eye on your hostage group, even if it's just checking back every couple of minutes. And if you see that hostage counter go from 8 to 7, then run like hell to your hostage area, because the cops might be trying to free every civilian. It is also very important to use cops as hostages. If a crew doesn't have anyone using Extra-Cable Ties, then that means that the crew only has a max of 8 civilian hostages, and most of those will likely be set free at some point by hostage rescue teams. Remember, cops cannot be taken hostage during Assault Waves. So in between Assault Waves, the crew will have to find cops and tie them down. Taking down FBI officers is a lot easier than taking down Heavy SWAT. Note that I said 'easier' not 'impossible.' So your goal is to single out whatever cops you find, either by killing their allies or distracting them using your teammates. Then either shoot them in the legs with a low damage weapon, or just melee them. After that, they'll be susceptible to your aggressive negotiations. Spam that Action Key and constantly shout at them. Even if they start rolling around or running away, keep spamming that button because unless they start shooting again, they can still be taken hostage. This is very important to do, in Undercover there are no civilians to take as hostages. Therefor players must take every opportunity to take cops as hostages. In between Assault Waves I've taken as many as four hostages at a time, and you can never have enough of them, esecially since they will often be right out in the open sitting up, which makes them very good targets for friendly fire during a firefight. And lastly, some hostage taking etiquette: if a person is currently in an exchange with the cops, don't interfere! I can't name the number of times I've been whittling down the patience of an FBI Officer only to have a teammate run by and kill him anyway simply because they thought "Ooh! A thing I can kill!" Also, if a friend is taking down a cop as a hostage, you don't need to help, take your own hostages. Often you'll just be interfering, and you'll make a better use of your time performing the process yourself. And remember, every cop, aside from Special Units, is a potential hostage outside of Assault Waves Shoutouts "The difference between losing one crew member and losing all of them is Shouting Out that Cloaker that took you down." Now, to veteran players, this may seem a little unnecessary to mention, but again, this is something that can cost the entire crew. Always, or at least as much as possible, using the Shoutout Command, shout out every Special Unit you see. Each Special Unit is unique in that, in order to counter them effecitvely, you should at least have two people. Usually you can break free of a Tazer or take down a Shield by yourself, but the process is made much easier with a friend. As such, by shouting out Special Units you're inviting your allies to help you take them out, so if you run out of ammo and begin getting tazed, your allies know where you are, where the Tazer is, and it makes the process of saving you a lot smoother. When you're downed, don't consider yourself useless. A) You can still shoot, so try and defend yourself and take down whatever Special Unit may have taken you down. But if you get capped and am unable to fight you B) Shoutout everything. When you are downed, the cops will swarm to your location, using you to lure your teammates into a trap of Special Units or an army of Heavy SWAT. Your goal should be able to provide your teammates as much information as possible to provide a safe rescue. It's all too common for a Cloaker to take down an entire team because the first person down wasn't shouting out that Special Unit. Even if your entire team is communicating clearly, shouting out Special Units will reveal them through walls, floors, and even through other cops. This can be very useful if a Tazer is hiding behind a Shield, or even just a bunch of regular cops. Always provide as much info to your teammates as possible, because the enemy AI in Payday is smart, and if you fall into a trap and are being shocked by a Tazer or smacked by a Cloaker then your ability to communicate to your teammates can safe your life, and the lives of your allies. Security Cameras "Aim for the eyes." Many people are under the belief that Security Cameras are just a side objectives, that their only purpose is to pad out your completion rating at the end of the heist and lead to a bigger payday. This is not true, Security Cameras are the eyes of the cops, and you should always take the time to hunt them down. The heists that use Security Cameras are First World Band, Diamond Heist, Slaughterhouse, and No Mercy. If the heist includes a stealth segment, then using silenced weapons against Security Cams will keep the crew hidden, although meleeing cameras is also silent. You should know where most, if not all, of the cameras are in the map. Check the walkthroughs section to figure out where they all are. Cameras should be one of your top priorities when starting a heist, almost as high as taking hostages. Of course, civilians will run and scatter, cameras stay stationary, so use your own discretion when it comes to taking priority of hostages over cameras. So what do cameras do? Cameras provide the police intel on your location, meaning that cops will swarm straight to you at the start of an Assault Wave. Take a look at the effects of cameras: in First World Bank, position yourself on the balcony above the lobby. Now have your allies camp out in the room with the entrance to the vault. If all or most of the cameras are intact, you will see that most of the cops will head straight for that room. If all of the cameras have been removed, then you can see them scatter towards both sides of the lobby. Taking out cameras makes the cops search the crew out, and thins out their forces, which in effect, makes them easier to kill. In lamen's terms, it makes Assault Waves less effective. Taking out Security Cameras should be one of the most important actions in a heist, and absolutely mandatory on Overkill. Ammo Conservation "You aren't being helpful if you aren't shooting." You can have the best weapons in the world, a forty round magazine STRYK, a Reinbeck that fire a blast of cop killing buck, and a GL40 that takes down everything in the game except a Bulldozer, but it ain't gonna do you any good if you don't have the ammo to use them. Now Payday offers Ammo Bags that fully refill your ammo supply if you're running low, but it's often better to avoid using your Ammo Bags unless you really need them, or save them for your allies. Players should ideally try to use ammo conservation tactics to keep as much ammo in reserve as possible, because being stuck in the middle of Green Bridge with only a few handgun bullets left is not going to do anybody any good. For starters, don't go crazy while firing. With weapons such as the Compact-5, Brenner 21, AMCAR-4, and the AK, players may be tempted to fire away an entire magazine to take down a few cops, but that is not always effective. Try firing in short bursts, and always attempt to aim for the head. Weapons such as the Compact-5 and the AMCAR-4 do very little damage but are very accurate and don't have much recoil, meaning they are most effective when aiming for the head. The most important thing to do, if you plan on being independent and not rely on any Ammo Bags, is to pick weapons that are ammo efficient. Weapons such as the Reinbeck and the M308 don't require a lot of ammo to be used effectively, and fill up on ammo rather quickly from ammo drops. Even the STRYK, even though it rapidly fires through it's ammo, is efficient in that ammo pickups can give back at least as much as 8 rounds, so it can refill it's stock rather quickly. It's alright to use weapons that spend ammo quickly, such as the Mark 11, but pick other weapons and abilities, like the Extra-Startout Ammo equipment, to compensate for that. For example: don't use the STRYK, AMCAR-4, and the Mark 11 at the same time. Pick weapons that can keep you going in a fight, so that while your allies are stocking up, you can keep going. Bag Placement "Running out into enemy fire isn't ideal." This is really a beginner's topic, but something that every player should know. Let me set up a situation. Four guys walk into a bank with their guns out to try and rob it. One of them drops their Ammo Bag in the middle of the lobby, so when the crew needs to refill, they have to return there. When the cops show up the lobby gets real hot, real fast and the crew is unable to fill up on ammo. Players in Payday need to think before they drop their Ammo/Medic Bags, otherwise they might do more harm than good. A well placed Ammo/Medic Bag is placed in cover, where a player can stock up on health or ammo without being shot at. The back of the vault in First World Bank is a good spot, as well as the staircase that accesses the roof in Panic Room. Then there are truly ingenious locations, that get very little traffic from cops and have cover on all sides. The bathroom on the fifth floor in Panic Room is one of those locations. A crew should be able to access their Bags and fill up with as little resistance as possible. Of course, placing an Ammo Bag in a corner of the map where no cop can see it is handy, but if it's on the bottom floor of Diamond Heist and your crew is at the very top, then there's a problem. Know where the objectives are in the heist, and place your Bags accordingly. In the crew is to hold out in a specific spot for a long time, such as the roof in Diamond Heist or the Container Yard in Heat Street than it might be a good idea to place your bags there. Reviving and Being Revived "Don't fall into traps, and don't be a trap." Whenever a crew member gets downed, it should be the remaining crew's top priority. You want all four crew members in the game because not only does it make the heist easier, but you'll get a bigger payout for it as well. There are some very important things to remember, for when you need to revive an ally, or for when you need to be revived. Reviving: When an ally gets downed, especially during an Assault Wave, the cops will swarm around that person and create a trap. Often times Special Units will come into the mix, creating a deadly combination. It can be awfully tempting to see that counter tick down and run right in there to revive your ally, though this will often end in two people being downed. The enemy AI in Payday is very smart, especially on Overkill. If you run in guns blazing trying to save your ally, you will be putting yourself in more harm. Sometimes it's just better to let your ally be captured, and have to trade him back, then go down yourself and force your remaining allies to fight with half their firepower missing. Calculate your moves, pick off one enemy at a time, and try and find cover when reviving. It is also very useful to know you can revive through walls and cover. If an ally is downed on one side of a wall, and you are in an adjacent room, simply crouch next to the wall, and you might get the prompt to revive them through the wall. This can be very handy as it makes it so that any enemies that took down the first crew member won't take down the second, or you can revive allies without sticking your neck into enemy fire. Being revived: So you're armor has been depleted and you're health bar is running read. Your first priority is to run. Run for cover, or run straight out of the fight entirely. You might be able to escape by the skin of your teeth, but even if you get downed, you might be near a doorway or a piece of cover that will allow your allies to revive you safely. Once you're down, make liberal use of that Shoutout Command, so that your allies know where the danger lies. This is especially useful if a smoke bomb has been deployed, so that a Cloaker doesn't run up out of the smoke and down your rescuer. Also, be sure to take down as much resistance with your handgun as possible. The B9-S loses much of it's accuracy, making it a poor choice for downed players. The Crosskill retains some of it's accuracy, and although the Bronco and the STRYK aren't very accurate while downed, they make up for it in sheer firepower. Use every tool at your disposal to make your rescue as safe as possbile. Category:Blog posts